Magnetic and optical disks are highly popular for storing large quantities of information, for example, with personal computers. Magnetic disks come in various formats including 8 inch, 51/4 inch and 31/2 inch diameter. Disk drive systems retrieve information from and store information on the disks. These drive systems take on various forms depending upon the format of the disk. Both magnetic and optical disk drives use an electrical drive motor linked to a power supply via speed control circuitry. Also, the drive systems use some mechanical or physical device for coupling the storage medium to the drive motor to rotate the medium at a controlled velocity. The storage medium is rotated relative to a read/write head of the disk drive system. The read/write head retrieves information from and transfers information to the storage medium.
Known data storage systems use drives that rotate the medium by engagement of the drive with the medium. A metal hub is used for engagement with 31/2 inch diskette designs, while a spindle is used to engage a central aperture with hubless 51/4 inch designs. Thinner medium allows head designs to have improved head-to-medium contact by increasing the wrap around the head. Also, a fixed hub or contact spindle stiffens the medium near the inner data tracks and results in poorer head-to-medium contact at these tracks. This limits the useful area of the medium and makes it difficult to produce very small diameter media. Also, at higher speeds, as is well-known, the fixed hub flexible medium generates a concave profile as it is pulled toward the drive base. This complicates head-to-medium contact. The radial tolerances with the large fixed hubs become more significant as the data storage products use higher track densities.
In the optical data storage product area a flat substrate is required and a thick caliper base must be used. A thinner caliper is preferred if it could be kept flat during use. The medium containers for magnetic and optical diskettes are relatively large and bulky due to housing one medium per container. For example, it takes a container that is 0.125 inch thick to store one diskette that is 0.003 inch thick. A system is needed that will be able to store hundreds of 0.003 inch thick media in one container for enhanced data storage.